My thoughts on the Phillies season.

An error and a leaky bullpen allows the Pirates to win their second straighth walk-off victory against the Phils as the Phils lose, 5-4.

An error on a strikeout, and a leaky bullpen allows the Pirates to pull off another walk-off win against the Phils as they lose in the bottom of the ninth, 5-4.

The Phils took the lead in the first as, with one man on, and with one man out, Hunter Pence hits an RBI double, knocking in Shane Victorino, who had earlier singled, then moved up to second base on Jimmy Rollins’ ground out, 3-unassisted, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead. The Phils added to their lead in the fourth as, with one man out, Pence hits a solo home run, his first home run of the season, giving the Phils a 2-0 lead. The Pirates got a run back in the fifth as Pedro Alvarez hits a lead-off home run, his first home run of the season, making it a 2-1 Phils’ lead. The Phils increased their lead in the seventh as, with two men on, and with two men out, Juan Pierre hits a two-run single, knocking in Ty Wigginton, who had earlier walked, then went to second base on Freddy Galvis’ sacrifice bunt, before going on to third as second baseman Neil Walker committed a missed catch error on pitcher Jared Hughes’ throw, and Galvis, who was safe at first on Walker’s error, before going on to second base on the error, giving the Phils a 4-1 lead. The Pirates got a run back in their half of the seventh as, with a runner on first, as Alvarez reaches first base on a strikeout, as Wigginton committed a fielding error on Brian Schneider’s throw for the out attempt, and with two men out, Casey McGehee hits an RBI double, scoring Alvarez, making it a 4-2 Phils’ lead. The Pirates then made it a 4-3 Phils’ lead as Alex Presley hits an RBI single, knocking in McGehee. The Pirates then tied the game up at four-all in the eighth as, with two men on, and with two men out, pinch hitter Matt Hague hits an RBI single, his first major league hit, scoring Andrew McCutchen, who had earlier singled, then stole second base, while sending pinch hitter Yamaico Navarro, who had earlier walked, on to second base. The Pirates then won the game in the bottom of the ninth as, with a man on third, and with two men out, McCutchen hits an RBI single, scoring pinch runner Josh Hamilton, who was pinch running for McGehee, who had earlier doubled, then went to third on Presley sacrifice bunt, 2-4, giving the Pirates a 5-4 walk-off win.

Vance Worley received a no-decision as he went six strong innings, giving up a run on five hits and a walk, while striking out five. Michael Stutes collected his first hold of the season as he pitched an inning, giving up two unearned runs on two hits, while striking out two. Kyle Kendrick picked up his first hold of the year as he went a third of an inning, giving up a run on a hit. Antonio Bastardo received his first blown save of the season as he went two-thirds of an inning, giving up a hit and a walk, while striking out two. David Herndon (0-1, 13.50) took the lost as he went two-thirds of an inning, giving up a run on two hits, while he struck out a batter. James McDonald also received a no-decision as he went six innings, giving up two runs on two hits and two walks, while he struck out three. Jared Hughes pitched an inning, giving up two runs on a hit and two walks, while striking out a batter. Evan Meek pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out one. Joel Hanrahan (1-0, 0.00) got the win as he pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out two.

The Phils had just five hits in the ballgame, with Juan Pierre (Singles, 2 RBI) and Hunter Pence (Double, Home Run, 2 RBIs) both leading the ball club with two hits each. Shane Victorino (Single) had the other Phil hit, a single. The Phils also had two stolen bases as Pierre and Victorino were involved in a double steal. The offense is performing some early small ball. Sadly it is not translating into runs, as they are presently leaving too many men in scoring position.

The Phils (1-2, 3rd) will start their first home stand of the season with a three-game series with the Marlins (1-3, 4th). The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and it will start at 1:05 pm EDT. The Phils will send to the mound for their home opener Cole Hamels (0-0, -.–) who ended 2011 with a 14-9 record with an ERA of 2.79 and a WHIP of 0.99. He pitched in 32 games, all but one of them as a starter, throwing a total of 216 innings, in which he struck out 184 batters, while walking only 44. Cole will be trying to continue where he left off last year, while trying to end the Phils present losing streak. The Marlins will counter with Anibal Sanchez (0-0, -.–), who is coming off a 2011 season with a record of 8-9, with a 3.67 ERA and a WHIP of 1.28. Sanchez started in 32 games, for a total of 196.1 innings, striking out 202 batters, while walking just 64. He will be trying to stop the Marlins early slide. The Phils will be trying to end their first losing slide, after spoiling two straight quality starts with so-so offense.

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